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- W.D.La.: Israel’s capture of Palestinian cell phone calls was foreign search in case here
- IN: Officer’s interpretation of traffic law wasn’t reasonable so stop was void
- Gizmodo: How You Could End Up in a Government Surveillance Database and Never Know It
- Reason: Miami Sheriff Hired a Private Law Firm To Pursue—and Profit From—Asset Forfeiture Cases
- D.Conn.: Pole camera on def’s house and curtilage didn’t show inside house, so it’s reasonable
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Feedspot’s Best Legal Blogs and Websites 2023-2026,
also, firm website Top 90 Criminal Law Blogs 2026 -
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ABA Journal Web 100, Best Law Blogs (2015-17) (then discontinued)
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by John Wesley Hall
Criminal Defense Lawyer and
Search and seizure law consultant
Little Rock, Arkansas
Contact: forhall @ aol.com
Search and Seizure (6th ed. 2025)
www.johnwesleyhall.com -
© 2003-26,
online since Feb. 24, 2003 Approx. 600,000 visits (non-robot) since 2012 Approx. 50,000 posts since 2003 (29,000 on WordPress as of 12/31/25) -
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Fourth Amendment cases, citations, and links -
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To search Search and Seizure on Lexis.com $ -
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Stringrays (ACLU No. Cal.) (pdf)
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Congressional Research Service:
--Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Overview of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (2012)
--Outline of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping (2012)
--Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions (2012)
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"If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. It isn't, and they don't."
—Me -
"Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well."
–Josh Billings (pseudonym of Henry Wheeler Shaw), Josh Billings on Ice, and Other Things (1868) (erroneously attributed to Robert Louis Stevenson, among others) -
“I am still learning.”
—Domenico Giuntalodi (but misattributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti (common phrase throughout 1500's)). -
"Love work; hate mastery over others; and avoid intimacy with the government."
—Shemaya, in the Thalmud -
"It is a pleasant world we live in, sir, a very pleasant world. There are bad people in it, Mr. Richard, but if there were no bad people, there would be no good lawyers."
—Charles Dickens, “The Old Curiosity Shop ... With a Frontispiece. From a Painting by Geo. Cattermole, Etc.” 255 (1848) -
"A system of law that not only makes certain conduct criminal, but also lays down rules for the conduct of the authorities, often becomes complex in its application to individual cases, and will from time to time produce imperfect results, especially if one's attention is confined to the particular case at bar. Some criminals do go free because of the necessity of keeping government and its servants in their place. That is one of the costs of having and enforcing a Bill of Rights. This country is built on the assumption that the cost is worth paying, and that in the long run we are all both freer and safer if the Constitution is strictly enforced."
—Williams v. Nix, 700 F. 2d 1164, 1173 (8th Cir. 1983) (Richard Sheppard Arnold, J.), rev'd Nix v. Williams, 467 US. 431 (1984). -
"The criminal goes free, if he must, but it is the law that sets him free. Nothing can destroy a government more quickly than its failure to observe its own laws, or worse, its disregard of the charter of its own existence."
—Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 659 (1961). -
"Any costs the exclusionary rule are costs imposed directly by the Fourth Amendment."
—Yale Kamisar, 86 Mich.L.Rev. 1, 36 n. 151 (1987). -
"There have been powerful hydraulic pressures throughout our history that bear heavily on the Court to water down constitutional guarantees and give the police the upper hand. That hydraulic pressure has probably never been greater than it is today."
— Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 39 (1968) (Douglas, J., dissenting). -
"The great end, for which men entered into society, was to secure their property."
—Entick v. Carrington, 19 How.St.Tr. 1029, 1066, 95 Eng. Rep. 807 (C.P. 1765) -
"It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in controversies involving not very nice people. And so, while we are concerned here with a shabby defrauder, we must deal with his case in the context of what are really the great themes expressed by the Fourth Amendment."
—United States v. Rabinowitz, 339 U.S. 56, 69 (1950) (Frankfurter, J., dissenting) -
"The course of true law pertaining to searches and seizures, as enunciated here, has not–to put it mildly–run smooth."
—Chapman v. United States, 365 U.S. 610, 618 (1961) (Frankfurter, J., concurring). -
"A search is a search, even if it happens to disclose nothing but the bottom of a turntable."
—Arizona v. Hicks, 480 U.S. 321, 325 (1987) -
"For the Fourth Amendment protects people, not places. What a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection. ... But what he seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitutionally protected."
—Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 351 (1967) -
“Experience should teach us to be most on guard to protect liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded
rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”
—United States v. Olmstead, 277 U.S. 438, 479 (1925) (Brandeis, J., dissenting)
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“Liberty—the freedom from unwarranted intrusion by government—is as easily lost through insistent nibbles by government officials who seek to do their jobs too well as by those whose purpose it is to oppress; the piranha can be as deadly as the shark.”
—United States v. $124,570, 873 F.2d 1240, 1246 (9th Cir. 1989) -
"You can't always get what you want / But if you try sometimes / You just might find / You get what you need."
—Mick Jagger & Keith Richards, Let it Bleed (album, 1969) -
"In Germany, they first came for the communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for
the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Catholic. Then they came
for me–and by that time there was nobody left to speak up."
—Martin Niemöller (1945) [he served seven years in a concentration camp] -
“Children grow up thinking the adult world is ordered, rational, fit for purpose. It’s crap. Becoming a man is realising that it’s all rotten. Realising how to celebrate that rottenness, that’s freedom.”
– John le Carré, The Night Manager (1993), line by Richard Roper -
"The point of the Fourth Amendment, which often is not grasped by zealous officers, is not that it denies law enforcement the support of the usual inferences which reasonable men draw from evidence. Its protection consists in requiring that those inferences be drawn by a neutral and detached magistrate instead of being judged by the officer engaged in the often competitive enterprise of ferreting out crime."
—Johnson v. United States, 333 U.S. 10, 13-14 (1948) -
The book was dedicated in the first (1982) and sixth (2025) editions to Justin William Hall (1975-2025). He was three when this project started in 1978.
Website design by Wally Waller, Colorado Springs. 
Author Archives: Hall
WI: Even though RS dissipated before the driver could be asked for DL, it was still reasonable to check all paperwork
Even though reasonable suspicion dissipates on the stop, here because the owner was a woman with a suspended DL but a man was driving, it is still reasonable for the officer to check the paperwork of the driver and car. … Continue reading
Techdirt: Jury Awards Couple No Damages For Bungled Marijuana Raid Predicated On Wet Tea Leaves
Techdirt: Jury Awards Couple No Damages For Bungled Marijuana Raid Predicated On Wet Tea Leaves by Tim Cushing. A raid on 4/20.
Just Security: Customs and Border Protection’s New Policy for Searching Devices Offers Thin Protection
Just Security: Customs and Border Protection’s New Policy for Searching Devices Offers Thin Protection by Carrie DeCell:
CA1: Exclusionary rule as to a statement won’t be applied to military disciplinary review board case
In a military disciplinary case, the court holds that a statement obtained without warnings could still be used before a disciplinary review board because the exclusionary rule is disfavored. Sasen v. Spencer, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 517 (1st Cir. Jan. … Continue reading
N.D.Iowa: Admissions about one’s own drug use to police during 911 call about unresponsive woman were RS
Police and EMTs responded to a 911 call about an unresponsive woman who later died. At the scene, admissions about defendant’s own drug abuse were made. “The court finds that the information about E.M.’s drug use, particularly when coupled with … Continue reading
CA1: Inevitable discovery applies to patdown; safety ultimately justified it
The district court credited the testimony of the officer that the patdown was justified by legitimate safety concerns after he got inconsistent dates of birth from the passenger. While the patdown otherwise would have exceeded the scope of a lawful … Continue reading
TN proposes rule change to codify GFE it recently adopted
In re Amendments to the Tenn. Rules of Crim. Procedure, 2018 Tenn. LEXIS 2 (Jan. 9, 2018):
SCOTUSblog: Argument analysis: Rental cars, reasonable expectations of privacy and property rights
SCOTUSblog: Argument analysis: Rental cars, reasonable expectations of privacy and property rights by Amy Howe. Transcripts: Byrd & Collins
Law & Crime: ‘Dark Side’ Federal Unit Feeds Possibly Illegal Tips to Local Cops, Report Says
Law & Crime: ‘Dark Side’ Federal Unit Feeds Possibly Illegal Tips to Local Cops, Report Says by Aaron Keller The Intercept: Welcome to Law Enforcement’s “Dark Side”: Secret Evidence, Illegal Searches, and Dubious Traffic Stops by Trevor Aaronson: Federal agents … Continue reading
IA: Mere visitor’s purse couldn’t be searched on execution of SW without an independent connection to premises
When a mere visitor is encountered during execution of a search warrant on the premises, her purse cannot be searched without independent cause linking her to the premises other than mere presence. State v. Brown, 2018 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 1 … Continue reading
W.D.N.C.: Def doesn’t have standing in a rental car, and the court is bound by existing authority
“According to the defendant’s motion, he was using the rental car with permission from its authorized driver. (Doc. No. 16: Motion at 1). However, he has not alleged that he was listed as an authorized driver on the rental agreement … Continue reading
N.D.Ala.: The mere possibility others are on the premises isn’t RS for Buie
To justify a protective sweep, the mere possibility others might be on the premises is not reasonable suspicion under Buie and would essentially cause a protective sweep in every case. United States v. Yarbrough, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2883 (N.D. … Continue reading
EFF: Groups Line Up For Meaningful NSA Surveillance Reform
EFF: Groups Line Up For Meaningful NSA Surveillance Reform by David Ruiz:
WaPo: Beijing bets on facial recognition in a big drive for total surveillance
WaPo: Beijing bets on facial recognition in a big drive for total surveillance by Simon Denyer. Referring to “the security state”:
D.Idaho: Dog sniff by stopping officer prolonged the stop; effort to show RS fails
The totality of circumstances that the government presents fails to show reasonable suspicion. Defendant was subjected to a dog sniff by the stopping officer without it, and the motion to suppress is granted because it prolonged the stop. United States … Continue reading
DC Inauguration protestor Facebook and email warrant case now on Lexis
In the DC protestor Facebook litigation, the trial court’s order finally appears on Lexis, but I did find links to the opinions elsewhere. In the Matter of the Search of Information Associated with Facebook Accounts disruptj20, lacymacauley, and legba.carrefour That … Continue reading
OR: CI privilege doesn’t require production of CI for in camera review if there is PC
While “Defendant does not challenge the trial court’s further determination that the affidavit contained sufficient information to establish the CI’s reliability and credibility,” he faults the trial court for not having the CI produced for in camera review. The identity … Continue reading
N.D.W.Va.: Officer’s admittedly pretextual stop for def’s driving on a suspended DL was still valid
Defendant’s car had a police placed GPS on it. When defendant traveled outside of his normal paths, an alert was sent to the officer’s phone. He conducted a traffic stop which he admitted was pretextual because he’d known for quite … Continue reading
Ginsburg has hired law clerks through term ending 6/30/20
ATL: Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: New Year, New Hires by David Lat And some justices have already hired all their 2019-2020 clerks as well.